S13.E29: Top 8 Results (Again)

[glowlights]

The name of the song is "Every Breath You Take".  Regardless of how one feels about Alex's version, getting song titles correct is a pet peeve of mine.

ARGH! (I am saying that to myself now for making such a dumb mistake while ranting - thx for the correction, sorry for the stupidity)

[Joystickenvy]

This is an interesting observation. It's been my experience that egotism often masks insecurity. That being said, I think most of the contestants who have done well on American Idol come across as confident but humble... YMMV, of course.

If you mean successful in terms of advancing on Idol, well it's essentially a popularity contest so being "likable" to some significant subset of the viewing audience is always a benefit.

Most of my Idol favs.....Adam Lambert, Elise Testone, Haley Reinhardt, Crystal Bowersox, Siobhan Magnus don't fit the awwwww shucks they're so darn nice mold, tho Crystal rode a certain wave of crunchy granola good will at least.

They also didn't win. IMO being a good musician requires a certain amount of belief in your ability and that what you have should be shared with the world that goes beyond mere confidence. Being successful in a contest or occupation where you are constantly being judged by your audience on any number of things not having to do with making music requires a different skill set that involves figuring out who you want to impress and how to impress them.

Caleb isn't likely to make my all time favs list, but I couldn't care less if he thinks I'm an old lady or is every bit as smarmy and arrogant as people accuse him of being. Even if I thought he was all those things, I'd choose him every day and twice on Sunday over the boring and/or awful "nice guys" this season.

[MarySNJ]

If you mean successful in terms of advancing on Idol, well it's essentially a popularity contest so being "likable" to some significant subset of the viewing audience is always a benefit.

Most of my Idol favs.....Adam Lambert, Elise Testone, Haley Reinhardt, Crystal Bowersox, Siobhan Magnus don't fit the awwwww shucks they're so darn nice mold, tho Crystal rode a certain wave of crunchy granola good will at least.

They also didn't win. IMO being a good musician requires a certain amount of belief in your ability and that what you have should be shared with the world that goes beyond mere confidence. Being successful in a contest or occupation where you are constantly being judged by your audience on any number of things not having to do with making music requires a different skill set that involves figuring out who you want to impress and how to impress them.

Caleb isn't likely to make my all time favs list, but I couldn't care less if he thinks I'm an old lady or is every bit as smarmy and arrogant as people accuse him of being. Even if I thought he was all those things, I'd choose him every day and twice on Sunday over the boring and/or awful "nice guys" this season.

I like all those contestants that you did, but I didn't say "aw shucks" I said confident but humble; i.e. Kris Allen, Phil Philips, Lee Dewyze, David Cook, etc. Not all of those guys were my personal favorites, but also none of those guys came across as arrogant.  If Caleb wants to win this game, I think he needs to stop seeming like he barely tolerates the judges judging and the fans that are going to be voting for him.  YMMV, of course.

[BogoGog24]

I'm with you Joystick- Yes, Caleb has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth and saying things that come off smarmy, even if he might not mean for them too. But goodness, if he wasn't here this season, it would be so. boring. Sam, bless him, he's a sweetheart and I love his voice, but he's not the most interesting person to watch on stage. Most of the others don't really interest me at all. I like the people I like first and foremost for their talent. Personality comes second. Caleb is smarmy and comes off like a jerk, but at least he's got the talent to be there and keep me entertained. He's the only person who excites me at all and makes me excited to watch the show every week. I watch Idol to be entertained and see if there's any new artists out there that I'd buy music from. Caleb is one of the few I could see myself buying an album from and maybe Alex if he did a whole album like Fairytales and Jess if the album was like Blue Eyed Lie. Even Jena's original song was pretty good. Sam will be good in a few years, I'd buy anything he records just because his voice is so beautiful. 

[Joystickenvy]

I like all those contestants that you did, but I didn't say "aw shucks" I said confident but humble; i.e. Kris Allen, Phil Philips, Lee Dewyze, David Cook, etc. Not all of those guys were my personal favorites, but also none of those guys came across as arrogant. If Caleb wants to win this game, I think he needs to stop seeming like he barely tolerates the judges judging and the fans that are going to be voting for him. YMMV, of course.

I don't watch the judges comments anymore, so I don't know or care anything about that. Honestly, though this year's judges seemed somewhat better than recent years, they historically have said and done such stupid things, I can't really blame the contestants for not taking them seriously. Isn't everyone complaining about Harry putting a kid on his shoulders at the judges table? They should listen to whatever nuggets of constructive feedback they can glean from the usual judging antics, but I don't expect more than that.

A lot of people seem offended that he isn't "playing the game" or having enough respect for the show or whatever. It doesn't deserve much and it has never much respected its contestants.

It's pointless for Caleb to try and appease the Frauen and the folks who take the show oh so seriously. They won't forgive him no matter what he does and it would just come off fake anyway. Should just focus on picking good songs and singing them well, because that is what the Frauen approved people are not doing right now.

Edited April 12, 2014 by Joystickenvy

[jodo]

ok what does Frauen mean??

[Joystickenvy]

ok what does Frauen mean??

Plural of Frau, which is sort of the German equivalent of Mrs.

In this context, it's a reference to the show's demographic of middle aged (not old! Don't hurt me!) women.

[BogoGog24]

Yeah, sometimes the judges contradict themselves. Like "We need you to go out of your box", contestant does something new and different, "We don't know who you are as an artist anymore. You're spreading yourself too thin." "We want you to make the songs your own," contestant completely rearranges a song, "I missed the melody of that, you changed the meaning of the song." "We want you guys to move around the stage and not be so stiff," Malaya runs around like a maniac, "You lost the vocal because you were moving around so much." At least the judges this year have acknowledged that they contradict themselves a lot. All the contestants can really do is pick apart the pieces of advice that seem relevant to them and that they agree with. They are not obligated to take every piece of advice they are given. Between the judges telling them what to do, what Randy is telling them (or not telling them), and everyone else behind the scenes telling them what to do, sing, wear, etc., in the end, they have to do what feels right to them. 

Once again, joystick, I agree with you on Caleb (or any other contestants this may apply to)- if he actually started taking the show seriously like people want him to, people would just say he's being fake. Like when he made that comment about Alex's peanut allergy and people wanted him to apologize for it. So he apologized (whether it was his own idea or a producer's) and people said he sounded insincere. All of them are better off just doing, saying, singing, wearing what feels natural to them and not trying to please anybody. In the end, you just end up pleasing no one.

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

 

I like all those contestants that you did, but I didn't say "aw shucks" I said confident but humble; i.e. Kris Allen, Phil Philips, Lee Dewyze, David Cook, etc. Not all of those guys were my personal favorites, but also none of those guys came across as arrogant.

See, I saw David Cook as quietly arrogant. It's pretty evident by his mentoring techniques that he's an incredible musician and he was up against the ultimate Frau-loving awshucks-ter David Archuleta. And PP2 was too sick to really allow his personality to be gauged during the show. I read a little bit about his health issues after he was crowned and dude was SIIICK while on the show. 

Sometimes the arrogance is really sureness (surety?). It's like they are sure about their skills, about who they are, and about where they want to go. Adam Lambert was mega arrogant but again, so damn interesting with his flamboyance and over-the-top screamorama skils that I could watch him all day. IMHO Caleb's arrogance is immature arrogance. 

Sam is about two years too green to win this year. If he was taken under somebody's wing and mentored and developed over a couple of years, he could be the next Ed Sheeren (without the creepy mole look). He's got tons of talent and he's trying but it's practically painful watching him try and relate to all those girls (I listen to him and watch the girls next to him, it's like he's drizzled in BBQ sauce and set out before the lions - they are about to EAT the poor kid alive)

[OakGoblinFly]

Sam is about two years too green to win this year. If he was taken under somebody's wing and mentored and developed over a couple of years, he could be the next Ed Sheeren (without the creepy mole look). He's got tons of talent and he's trying but it's practically painful watching him try and relate to all those girls (I listen to him and watch the girls next to him, it's like he's drizzled in BBQ sauce and set out before the lions - they are about to EAT the poor kid alive)

To me, it seems as if Sam is not only extremely, painfully shy he's been sheltered.  Bless his grandparents for taking him in and giving him a loving, safe home - I think that they might have been a bit over-protective of him, making up for the hardships he dealt with as a young kid.  While I think Sam is out of his element now and needs time to gain life experience, I do think it's a wonderful thing that his grandparents have encouraged him to try out for Idol (even if it is a year or three too soon) as I think Sam is learning a ton - he already has talent, he's just has to apply what he's learned and gain some life experience.